Posts Tagged ‘war on terror’

A senior Pakistani official said Thursday that Taliban is prepared to open peace talks with the United States with the first rounds of talks today and Friday in Qatar.

Back in 2002, peace talks between the Bush administration and Taliban ended without any results, one year after the United States invaded Afghanistan as part of its war on terror.

Pakistan’s military chief of staff told Afghan leaders that Taliban is prepared for a sudden shift in policy, which also would signal a change for the Pakistani military that is considered to be behind Taliban.

The peace overture is not official and needs a wider agreement among Pakistani officials and the approval of Taliban’s spiritual leaders Mullah Mohammed Omar.

One factor working help compel the military to change course and go with a peace overture is last December’s savage Taliban attack against children in a school, which evoked shock among citizens and more suspicion of the military’s involvement with Taliban.

Using Qatar as the host to talk peace is interesting since it backs Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood and perhaps can convince Obama that they represent Islam and not those “who have perverted Islam.”

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said last month that Taliban is an “”armed insurgency” and not a terrorist group.

Earnest said, as heard and seen in the video below:

It is important to draw a distinction between the Taliban and al Qaeda. The Taliban has resorted to terror tactics, but those terror tactics have principally been focused on Afghanistan.

They do carry out tactics that are akin to terrorism, they do pursue terror attacks in an effort to try to advance their agenda.

The State Department does not include Taliban on its list of foreign terrorist organizations, while the Treasury Department defines it as a group of “specially designated global terrorists.”

Earnest explained that the Treasury Dept.’s designation means the United States can impose financial sanctions against Taliban’s leaders.

We said we are going to take this all the way, we are going to go after them wherever they are and we’re doing that.They’re in Iraq and they are in Syria and therefore you have to target them wherever they are.

U.S. military aircraft provided intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to Jordan.

Jordan has a stronger reason than the United Starts to attack ISIS because the terrorist organization controls parts of two countries on Amman’s borders, and Kong Abdullah does not have to deal with the Constitution, Congress and leftist media. However, the ISIS has been a golden opportunity for President Obama to show the world that the United States still is a world leader.

The U.S. Air Force has joined the strike force. That helps Obama “spread the blame” but he also will to spread the credit when ISIS finally is defeated.

Most Americans favor the U.S. Air Force’s bombing of ISIS targets, and Obama has the back of the Western world, shocked by ISIS barbarity. The ISIS is an easier target than a country with established leaders, such as Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, but Obama reflects the timidity of an American that has lost its confidence.

Previous presidents have launched military attacks on Serbia, Panama, Grenada, and even the Korean War was carried out without Congressional approval. Obama authorized bombing Libya without asking Congress.

Obama has not relied on his presidential power to bomb the ISIS to smithereens.

Instead, he has been leaning on previous authorization from Congress to support the American participation in the war on terror.

Despite polls that show backing for U.S. bombing missions against ISIS, Americans are paralyzed by dumb, costly and useless wars, dating back to the war in Vietnam and including the supposed “defeat” of terror in Iraq and Afghanistan.

President Obama is prepared to ask Congress for specific authority to bomb the ISIS, but Congress is doing a good of talking. Wimpy Democrats want a time frame that would place a deadline so that military operations won’t drag on like previous wars.

Republican House Speaker John Boehner put the onus on the president to convince the American people. He said Thursday:

His actions are going to be an important part of trying for us to get the votes to actually pass an authorization. This is not going to be an easy lift.

Democrats are hesitant and want any authorization to be limited for three years, while most Republicans want a broader authorization.

Republican Sen. John McCain said Thursday, “Overall, there’s still no strategy from this administration as to how to combat ISIS.”

Secretary of Defense nominee Ashton Carter told McCain at a Senate hearing on Wednesday that he “absolutely” believes the U.S. needs an ISIS strategy, but he disappointed McCain when asked for specifics.

“I think the strategy connects ends and means…to strengthen” Iraq’s security forces…and to try to build the forces to keep them defeated” in Syria, he said.

The White House said that Taliban is an “armed insurgency” and not a terrorist group, a handy semantic tactic to allow President Barack Obama to declare he was won the war on terror.

It is strange why no one thought of this solution before. You get rid of terror simply by re-defining it. Perhaps he has learned from the Palestinian Authority how to re-write the dictionary. Mahmoud Abbas has convinced the world that “ultimatum,” as in “Israel must agree to my terms or else,” actually mean “negotiations.”

So is Taliban a terrorist organization?

ABC News’ Jon Karl asked White House Press Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz Wednesday how the government can explain if there is any difference between a Jordanian and Americans agreement to free terrorists in return for the release of hostages.

Jordan has agreed to trade a convicted terrorists for the release by the ISIS of one of their air force pilots. Karl asked if Jordan simply is not doing exactly what the United States did when it agreed to release five Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay in return for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl.

Karl pointed out that Taliban ”is clearly a terrorist organization,” like ISIS.

No, no, no, said Schultz.

“We don’t make concessions to terrorist groups,” he said, assuring reporters that the Islamic State “is a terrorist group.”

But what about Taliban?

Wasn’t Taliban once the ruling government of Afghanistan that refused to hand over members of Al Qaeda who were allegedly involved in the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington?

Doesn’t Taliban maintain a powerful force in Afghanistan and Pakistan from where it attacks U.S. soldiers as well as children in a Pakistani school?

Isn’t Taliban included in the State Dept.’s Specially Designated Global Terrorist list?

Doesn’t the National Counterterrorism Center list the “Taliban Presence in Afghanistan” on a map of global terrorism presences?

The answer to all of these questions is, “yes.”

So Taliban is a terrorist group,. right?

Schultz said:

I don’t think that the Taliban, um — uh – the Taliban is an armed insurgency.

White House Press Secretary tried a bit of damage control on Thursday.

“They [Taliban] do carry out tactics that are akin to terrorism. They do pursue terror attacks in an effort to try to advance their agenda,” he told reporters.

Nu?

Well, says Earnest, “it’s important to draw a distinction between the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The Taliban has resorted to terror tactics, but those terror tactics have principally been focused on Afghanistan” although many American personnel and soldiers in Afghanistan “are in harm’s way.

Got it? Taliban only uses “terror tactics.” If it quacks, it doesn’t mean it’s a duck. Maybe it’s a ventriloquist.

“The Taliban is a very dangerous organization,” Earnest admitted but it still is different from ISIS.

His twisted narrative goes like this:

What the President has pursued is a clear strategy for building up the central government of Afghanistan and the Afghan security forces, so that they could be responsible for security in their own country and take the fight to the Taliban

That, however, is different than the strategy that we have pursued against Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is a terrorist organization that has aspirations that extend beyond just the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan..

Al-Qaeda and their affiliates around the globe have sought to carry out terror attacks against Americans and American interests all around the globe….

There’s no doubt that the threat from the Taliban is different than the threat that is posed by al-Qaeda.

By that reasoning, Hamas is not a terrorist group because it is not a worldwide threat.

Baird won a warm welcome in Jerusalem after Sunday’s visit to his Palestinian Authority counterpart in Ramallah, where his car was pelted by eggs thrown by demonstrators waiting outside the Canadian offices in the city.

Netanyahu told Baird Monday, “To fight Islamist terrorism, we need clarity and courage. Canada has both. You know who is the aggressor; you know who is the defender. You know that Israel legitimately defends itself against the war crimes of Hamas and other terrorist groups. You know that it’s a travesty of justice to haul Israel to the dock in The Hague, and you know that the entire system of international law could unravel because of this travesty.”

Baird declared, “The great struggle of our generation is terrorism and far too often the State of Israel and the Jewish people around the world are on the front lines of that struggle.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with French Jewish leaders Monday morning and said that that terrorism will spread and worsen if the world does not join forces to fight it.

“Israel supports Europe in the struggle against terrorism and the time has come for Europe to support Israel in the exact same struggle, he said.

The Prime Minister tried to make believe that French officials did not want him to attend yesterday’s massive solidarity rally and said, “As soon as the security problem was resolved, thus allowing me to come, it was natural that I come here, it was important that I come here and therefore I came here.

“There is great significance in what the world saw, the Prime Minister of Israel marching with all the world leaders in a united effort against terrorism, or at least in a call for unity.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu also told French leaders, “Yesterday’s event in the La Victoire synagogue was emotional. I was also moved at the meeting with the bereaved families. I embraced the two brothers and I told them that I understand their feelings very well and that the entire Jewish People embraces the families. This was a moment of genuine Jewish solidarity. The visit to Paris was also a moment of general solidarity with humanity.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took to the air waves Wednesday night to reassure the country that the war against Hamas will continue until there is total security, peace and quiet not only for residents in southern Israel but also for all of the country.

The rah-rah speeches by the Prime Minister, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz included nothing that was not said in the past but were a clear message to the people of Israel and to Hamas that the resumption of missile attacks on Israel has deepened the government and military’s resolve to put an end once and for all to nearly a decade of rocket, mortar shell and missile s launched from Gaza at Israel, from the Gaza border to the north.

“We are taking all means to reach the objective and bring complete quiet,” Netanyahu said.” Operation Protective Edge has not ended, not even for a second,”

He recounted the heavy damage the IDF inflicted on the hams terrorist infrastructure but left unsaid that the “heavy blow” to Hamas has not deterred the terrorist organization from continuing to place most of Israel under daily and nightly rocket attacks.

“We will not stop until there is total security to southern Israel and to all citizens of the country,” he added.

“Our policy is simple. Shoot? You will get it back,” Netanyahu asserted. “If Hamas does not understand that today, it will understand tomorrow. If not tomorrow, then in two days because in the Middle East, it not just a matter of force but a matter of continued force.”

The IDF has called up more reservists and has recalled thousands of reservists who have been on an extended leave of absence. Plans for a massive ground incursion have been drawn out although it may be the last option the government and military want to exercise.

The Prime Minister sounds like he means what he says. The goal of the war has changed from destroying terror tunnels to a broader but an indefinite objective that will require an even stronger retaliation.

The U.S. State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf gave an initial heads up at the State Department press conference on Thursday afternoon, August 1, that “certain U.S. embassies and consulates to remain closed or to suspend operations on Sunday, August 4.”

It was later disclosed that all U.S. embassies and consulates across the Middle East and in parts of Asia will be closed on Sunday.

The reason for the unprecedented closure is a possible al-Qaeda-related threat to diplomatic posts.

As NBSNews.com noted, Sunday is President Barack Obama’s 52nd birthday, and it’s also the day Iran inaugurates Hassan Rowhani as its new president. But U.S. officials told NBC News they had heard nothing to indicate that the date was chosen for either of those reasons.

ABC news had even more specific information. Reporters there claimed that a U.S. official had said the closings were due to a credible and serious security threat of the targeting of an “embassy or consulate in a Muslim country.”

“We just don’t know which one,” the official told ABC News.

According to CBSNews.com, as of 7:35 PM ET Thursday, at least 14 embassies had announced that they will close on Sunday in accordance with the State Department’s guidance. These include the U.S. embassies in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

“There could be other targets, not just embassies,” another U.S. official said. The threat is considered to be throughout the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.

U.S. Ambassadors, and not the State Department, usually determine when an embassy will close. This is an unusual step.

It is possible the diplomatic posts will remain closed past Sunday.

Winning the war on terrorism? Defeated al-Qaeda? Doesn’t sound like it.

The Jewish Press will continue to update this story as details become available.